Friday, 29 May 2015

The above picture appeared in a previous post. It is a still from old home movie sequence filmed outside Rhyl Pavilion in 1960 showing members of the resident circus. The blonde on the left with an attractive toothy grin has been revealed as Melvis White, identified by her daughter Melanie Robinson who writes:“My Mum Melvis White was born in Wales and then lived in Liverpool from a teenager. She was a singer and was in panto, and then in the circus at Rhyl Pavilion in 1960. She also sang at the Pavilion on the variety nights. After her stint in Rhyl she sang all over the North of England then later in London where she met my Dad and they formed a duo then later a band.”In the following photo Melvis White is shown outside the Pavilion in the dance troupe called The Digger Pugh Girls. She is standing far right:

Melanie continues:“Digger Pugh and his wife trained girls to be dancers. My Mum went along to a class to learn a few steps and they asked her to join the circus in Rhyl, so she did. She stayed in a guest house with the other girls and loved it. "She said the circus was like a big family to her. She sang at the Pavilion before the big acts came on. She did the one season. Digger Pugh wanted her to stay on as head dancer but she wanted to sing more than dance so she went off to sing instead.”

--Readers, I am delighted to report that Melvis White is alive and well and living in London. My thanks to Melanie Robinson for getting in touch and supplying the sepia photo - I love it !

Tuesday, 26 May 2015

Now for another unexpected gem from files of the late Glyn Rees. It is a copy of an item from Rhyl Leader newspaper dated 18th March 1961:

This serves as a reminder of how many trade organisations and public competitions there used to be. It was an event by Rhyl And District Branch of The National Hairdressers' Federation at Rhyl Town Hall. It was for apprentices; there were 19 of 'em including one boy.Pictured above are the winners. Standing far left is third-prize winner Pauline Roberts of Bodelwyddan, an apprentice at Reginald's, Rhyl. Sitting in front of Pauline is her model Mrs. Mavis Griffiths.Standing in the middle holding her cup is first-prize winner Susan Muff who lived with her grandma in Westfield Road, Rhyl. Susan was aged only 15, an apprentice at The Powder Box, Rhyl. Sitting in front is her model Mrs. Audrey Anzinger.Standing far right is third-prize winner Angela Libby of Lynwood Drive, Rhyl, with her model Mrs. Barbara Williams. Angela was also an apprentice at The Powder Box, Rhyl, which was above Martins Bank on corner of High Street and Glanglasfor (now Santander).The Powder Box was a well-established business. It had previously been located elsewhere in High Street since the 1930s, and traded as Frances of Kinmel Street before that.--Jill Williams says:

"I started going to the Powder Box in the 1950s. The entrance in those days was in Glanglasfor and then up steps to the second floor. The lady who ran it at that time was called Miss Olive Rigby.

"When she retired I think it was taken over by Thelma Gwilliam and it moved to Kinmel Street next to the Journal Office.

"When Thelma left it moved to the corner of Elwy Street and was run by Paula and Lynda (can't remember their surnames). Eventually it ceased to exist several years ago."

--

Jill adds:“I can remember a few more hairdressers of yesteryear, There was a Mr. Mitchell and Miss Howell who ran a salon down under the bridge past the Odeon Cinema (now Apollo Bingo). There was one in Wellington Road run by Miss Dorothy Coombes, and one in Market Street run by Mr. Jackson.”

--

The Rhyl hairdresser most often mentioned with praise is Malcolm Connop whose studio was at 51 Water Street. His fans include blog readers Dilys Bagnall, Dorothy Jones, Gaynor Williams and Liz Espley.

Malcolm passed away in 2011. Click on the following link to read tributes:http://www.rhyljournal.co.uk/news/105611/tributes-paid-to-rhyl-hairdresser.aspx--SAT 6th FEB 2016 UPDATE: This advert for The Powder Box is thought to be c.1920 but is more likely to be 1930s if the slogan 'Keep Young & Beautiful' refers to song of that name which appeared in the Hollywood film 'Roman Scandals' starring Eddie Cantor and Ruth Etting (1933):

Last Sunday I posted the above Rhyl image, 1950s probably, from the collection of the late Glyn Rees. To your right of the scene would be a pub.The question: What was the name of the pub at that time OR what is its name now?

The pair of buildings is in High Street, and here is the scene earlier this month during road works, and underneath is the pub in question:

So the answer is:The New Inn or O’Grady’s Irish Bar.

The Great Gareth remembers it also as The Kestrel. It may have had other names too.

--

On the same day I posted this photo which had a street sign blanked out.The question: What is the missing name?

The answer is: Gwynfryn Avenue.

--

Having both of the answers right and scoring a win are The Great Gareth, Richard & Ceri Swinney, Jane Shuttle, Dilys Bagnall, Dorothy Jones, Sue Handley, and a new player in this series: Robert Scott.

Robert Scott writes, "Another reason for my contacting you is to ask if you or any of your readers have ever heard of 'The Cletty Hotel' in Rhyl.

"I am aware that there is a Lletty Hotel on Coast Road, Mostyn and realise that my enquirer could have made a transcribing error but he was convinced the Cletty was a Rhyl Hotel."

Thursday, 21 May 2015

Recently Dave
Williams sent photos of some memorabilia including - to my surprise - Rhyl hotel cutlery. Among Dave’s other items was this souvenir
programme which serves as a reminder of Rhyl resident Carl Gizzi’s career as a boxer:

The following photo of Carl is from Daily Post:

Carl Gizzi was born in Rhyl. He was a professional
boxer from 1964-1971 and won 31 out of his 43 fights. His heavyweight opponents
included the American Ray Patterson who was Floyd’s brother, Jack Bodell twice
(the programme is from their second contest) and Joe Bugner.

Later on in Rhyl, Carl was a familiar figure with his window cleaning business
and as a night club bouncer.

This morning when I enquired of Peter Trehearn, a proprietor of The Bistro club
in West Parade, he said, “Funnily enough Carl popped around this morning, he
has just turned 71 years of age. Carl was a doorman at The Bistro for at least
fifteen years during the 1980's& ‘90's until we closed down in 1999.
Lovely bloke.”

Lovely unless you were
fighting him, I suppose.

Peter threw in the following picture of doormen from Bistro days. Left to right are: Brian Edwards, Carl Gizzi, John Brookes and John Allan Jones.The three-headed curio/person remains unidentified.

Carl Gizzi's sporting achievements will always be remembered. For instance, his fight against Joe Bugner can be seen in three parts on YouTube starting here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-AqZ06Ingk
--[These names of boxers are added here for indexing purposes: Henry Cooper, Jack Bodell, Carl Thomas, Roy John.]--

Wednesday, 20 May 2015

During the General Election some eyebrows were raised at my support for winning candidate Dr. James Davies (shown below in a Daily Post photo). A friend remarked, “What’s an old leftie like you doing supporting a Tory?”

Just for the record I am neither a leftie nor a rightie. In my opinion James was the best candidate, and it was time for the winds of change to blow. For decades the Labour Party has dominated Rhyl and failed to defend the town against unsuitable changes.

--

When I was born, Clement Attlee (shown below) was Prime Minister. His Labour government established the National Health Service. (The NHS was not exclusively a Labour Party idea, nor was the concept of creating council houses.)

Later Labour governments led by Harold Wilson and James Callaghan were short-lived. From 1997 to 2007 we had Tony Blair, the first Labour prime minister to look and sound like a middle-class Conservative, which may have accounted for his electoral success.

In General Elections I was a Labour voter until Mr. Blair conned us into joining America’s illegal invasion of Iraq, which de-stablilised Arab countries and led to a war that could last a thousand years.

--

Then came the Labour government led by Gordon Brown (above) which is too recent to require any comment. Now, having lost the 2015 General Election the Labour Party is casting around for a new leader and possibly a new reason to exist at all.

If the new all-Conservative government continues to work in the interests of ordinary working people, especially the working poor, I would continue to vote Conservative.

And if James Davies MP works to maximise Rhyl's potential as a resort and stop the decline in key residential parts of the town I would continue to support him.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------SKYDIVER AMUSEMENTS RHYLRecently on eBay the following photo was up for sale. It was accompanied by no information. The background does not look like Rhyl.Click on the picture to see a bigger version.

Ex-Ocean Beach Fun Fair worker David Thomas thinks the cargo may be Weston's Paratrooper ride or similar. Does anybody wish to contribute further on this matter?Colin Jones /email:rhyl.colin.jones@live.co.uk--

Sunday, 17 May 2015

Here is a Rhyl image, 1950s probably, showing a pair of buildings
that still exist. The upper windows are still recognisable but the businesses
below have changed. To your right of the picture would be a pub.

The question: What was the name of the pub at that time OR what is its name now?

--The following photo was taken this year by Yours Truly. A street
sign has been blanked out.

The question: What is the missing name? (It might be a
street / road / avenue / whatever).

Last Sunday
I posted a larger version of the following photo with a street name blanked
out.

The
question: What is the missing name?

The
answer: Lynton Walk.

--

Also I said that in the 1930s a Rhyl May Queen was crowned
by a Princess.

The question: Was it the Princess of A - Samoa, B - Denmark, C - Monaco, D -
Sarawak or E - Romania?

The answer: D - Sarawak.

The year is 1932, the Rhyl May Queen is Miss Rene Edwards, and the crowner is the Princess of Sarawak. The following newspaper cuttingsand portrait of the Princess are from files of the late Glyn Rees:

Click on a cutting to see more clearly.

So there we are. The Princess was an Englishwoman of the Brooke family, The White Rajas. The family’s extraordinary story is told in Wikipedia:

In this new series, The Great Gareth now leads with 13 wins, Jane
Shuttle is hot on his heels with 12, Richard & Ceri Swinney are looming
with 11. Sue Handley and Dorothy Jones are doing well, and two
more readers have scored. Everybody is welcome to join in!

Saturday, 16 May 2015

Rhyl resident Jo Jenner is from Ynys Môn / Anglesey originally, and her hobby is photography. Occasionally she puts some prints on eBay where she sells as jjenner23. Here are some Rhyl examples:

Jo Jenner is on Facebook as PhotoJenicJoJenner, and you would find a slideshow of her Rhyl seafront prints on my YouTube channel. Please click on the following link to see:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Amsk4JX2rcU

Wednesday, 13 May 2015

From files of the late Glyn Rees, here are a couple of reminders of entertainment in days gone by. The first is a flyer and/or poster dated 11th August 1905. The venue Pier Pavilion, Rhyl, would have been the little place halfway along the pier, which had been called previously the Bijou Pavilion.

This group of performers named The Follies looks typical
of the touring concert parties of the day - comedy, dance, and songs with
plenty of audience participation – and sometimes a hard life. See J.B. Priestley’s novel The Good Companions or one of the films
of the book.

--

The second item is this unexpected advert from Rhyl
Leader newspaper dated 18th November 1939:

I have managed to establish that the name above should read Antoinette
et Ninon and that they worked for the same impresario as Rhyl
girl turned-stage-star Mona Vivian about whom I have been
reading lately.

That started me wondering whether Mona Vivian is the reason why we had
a pub named the Mona Hotel. One thought leads to another . . . I used to have a life
. . .

Steve Kellie writes, “I have been looking at your Rhyl
Life Blog and I wonder if you, or any of your readers, might know where this
photo was taken. The year would be 1954. Definitely the Rhyl area (Rhyl,
Prestatyn or Towyn).Of the giraffe he adds, “Ignore the antennae - a child's addition.”

Monday, 11 May 2015

A young reader has asked what was previously on the site of Jobcentre Plus in Rhyl High Street. Well, in Victorian times the White Lion Hotel stood there. Here is a picture of the White Lion, circa 1908. On your left is Vaughan Terrace, one of a network of alleys in the vicinity:

The hotel was demolished to make way for the Crosville bus station shown below. The image, late 1950s probably, is from the Glyn Rees collection:

On your right in both pictures is No.78 High Street which started as Town Assembly Rooms and became The Old Town Hall (a pub, later a shop). In recent times the building has been a butcher's shop; currently it's Webbers Leisure adult arcade & betting shop operated by Mark Webber:

They would have been nearly opposite the junction with Water Street. The picture looks very early 1900s, probably before the Pavilion opened to your left of the scene in 1908.

The patch was known at various times as Rhyl Gardens, Pavilion Gardens, Pleasure Gardens, Marine Gardens, and on one postcard as simply The Gardens. Another name for it was Promenade Gardens but this name was used also for other parts of the prom (which used to be lawned in places).

In the late 1940s on the patch in question a roller skating rink was built and it remained there until 1991.

--

Also I posted the following photo in which a street sign was blanked out.

The question: What is the missing name?

The answer: Vezey Street.

Having both answers right to score a win, the winners are: Sue Handley, Jane Shuttle, Richard & Ceri Swinney, Dorothy Jones and The Great Gareth. These players are all doing well, and we have two other scorers. Everybody is welcome to join in!

Wednesday, 6 May 2015

Here is a quartet of Rhyl postcards featuring the sea. It is the town's biggest friend and potentially our biggest
enemy. Maybe one day Rhyl shall be a new Atlantis, and deep sea divers might find the Children’s Village and decide it must have been some sort of temple.

Two of these cards are from the collection of the late Glyn
Rees and two from Yours Truly. They are unposted and undated except the first
one, a view from the pier, which is postmarked 1908:

The following shows what a hive of activity Foryd Harbour used
to be. Look at all the workshops on your right! One such would have been Charles Jones timber merchants.

Next is a pre-World War 2 image of the sea, the pier and Rhyl Pavilion with colour added later:

Donkeys. Can’t go wrong with a donkeys picture!

Back to the Foryd for a calm scene with – in
the background left to right – West Parade, Ocean Beach Fun Fair, Schooner
pub, and in the distance the gasometers in Westbourne Avenue overlooking
Marine Lake.

--Colin Jones /email:rhyl.colin.jones@live.co.ukSee my Rhyl videos on YouTube:http://www.youtube.com/user/RhylTimeThere are hundreds of Rhyl videos on YouTube. Only the ones labelled RhylTime are mine - don't blame me for the others!--

Last Sunday I posted this undated image of Voryd Hotel, Rhyl with two street signs blanked out.

The question: What are the two missing street/road/whatever names?

The answer: West Parade and Quay Street.

The pub’s location was mentioned on this blog five years ago. Below is the image in full from collection of the late Glyn Rees. Click on it if you wish to see a bigger version:

Quay Street adjacent to the Voryd Hotel may have had a previous name. Wellington Road was Quay Street until it was renamed in honour of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, who was big in the early 1800s.

--

On the same day I posted a larger version of the photo below, taken this month by Yours Truly.

The question: Where was I standing?

The answer: Elm Grove.

I am thinking of starting a Facebook page titled We Love Rhyl Alleys And Old Sheds.

Having both answers right to score a win, the winners are: Richard & Ceri Swinney, The Great Gareth, Dorothy Jones and Jane Shuttle. At this early stage Jane is marginally in the lead, having chalked up an amazing ten consecutive wins!

Glyn Rees’ daughter Janine says, “In the 1960s my mother Pauline was a cook in the Stoke-on-Trent children's home, Rhyl, and I had to go with her occasionally for a day. The staff and the matron were lovely. Do you think anyone that visits your site may have a photo of the home?"

[The home was in Chester Street, the building may still be there. Does anybody know exactly where?]

--TUE 18th APR 2017 UPDATE: Consensus of opinion is the location was between Chester Street and Olinda Street. The building may have been a big old house named Olinda which no longer exists.The following photo was taken at Stoke-on-Trent Children's Holiday Home during a birthday party in 1938:

The gent far left I take to be Councillor D.W. Jones, Chairman of Rhyl Urban District Council; the little girl bears a family resemblance to him.The other chap wearing a chain is the Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent whose Missus is cutting the cake.A picture of the building is hard to find - can anyone oblige?